


Riots and Regret

by Kavella



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-02 10:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4056607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kavella/pseuds/Kavella
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a riot breaks out on Lothal, Ezra and Kanan find themselves right in the middle of it. But what else is new?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Terror

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is just a short three chapter fic that I came up with. I hope you enjoy!

Kanan knew it was a risk, walking down the streets of Lothal. They had just recovered from their last mission, and the wounds were still fresh. Kanan had recovered quicker than expected, but Ezra’s scars seemed content on staying. However, they desperately needed the supplies and were unable to wait. It was not being recognized that he was so worried about, it was more about the fact that his padawan had demanded to come along. Ever persistent, Kanan was somehow looped into taking him. 

Ezra walked along happily, excited to be off the cramped courters of the Ghost. Kanan noticed a slight bounce in his step, but why Ezra was so excited he had no idea. They were just going to get some food and medical supplies from the market. Yet Ezra acted as if they were going on some sort of adventure.

Kanan shook his head at his padawan’s antics. There was still so much that he did not know about him. 

“You seem excited,” Kanan said, hoping to get some answers. Ezra shrugged. 

“Glad to be back.” Kanan raised an eyebrow. 

“Glad? I thought you hated this planet.” Again, Ezra merely shrugged. 

“I guess after seeing the depth of space, Lothal seems more familiar. Safer.” Kanan nodded. 

“We still need to keep a lookout. We don’t want to be-”

Charging footsteps stopped Kanan and Ezra in their tracks. Moving quickly, they rushed behind the corner of the closest alley. The hid their outlines in the shadow of the building and watched as three troopers rushed by. Their guns were raised. 

Exchanging glances, Ezra and Kanan knew that something was up. They crept down the alley to the other side, and Kanan peered around the corner. 

A crowd had gathered around an Imperial building, their cries of anger drowning out the trooper’s shouts. But as Kanan examined the people closer, with their fists raised and their angry chants, he realized that it was not just a crowd; it was a mob. 

“What are they protesting?” Kanan looked down to see Ezra peering over the corner below him. Kanan retreated and pulled Ezra back with him. “Hey!”

“Ezra, we can’t be seen. Anyone in the crowd could recognize us!” Ezra rolled his bright blue eyes. 

“Kanan, no one’s going to recognize us. They’re too busy rioting! I just wonder what they’re rioting about…” Ezra stuck his head out from the corner, trying to get a good look, only for Kanan to pull him back again. 

“We can’t take that chance. We’re heading back.”

“What’s got under your skin?” Ezra asked.

“Maybe the fact that the Empire is hunting us down!”

“They’ve always been hunting us. I don’t see what’s different.” Kanan looked away, his mind filled with thoughts that he could not explain to his padawan. He had been captured by the Empire, and he did not want that pain to be felt by anyone on the crew, especially Ezra. He was still a kid, after all. And even worse, he was a force sensitive kid. His mind could be shifted with great ease, unlike Kanan’s. 

“You go back – I’m going to check it out.”

“Ezra, wait!” Kanan tried to latch on to his reckless padawan, but he had avoided his grasp. Kanan, cursing, ran after him. 

They entered the back of the crowd, watching the events unfold. Kanan caught up to Ezra, but before he could lecture him on being careless, warning bells went off in his head. Ezra must have felt the same way, for Kanan saw him stiffen. They looked up to the steps of the building as Kallus stepped out of the doors, looking into the crowd. 

“Ezra…” He reached out for his padawan, hoping that they could still leave before Kallus spotted them. But his hand was met with empty air. Kanan looked over; Ezra was no longer next to him. Frantically searching, his padawan was no longer in sight. He realized that the mob had grown larger, and he was no longer in the back; he was in the middle. The mob was growing angrier, their shouts louder and their fists pounding in the air. Smoke filled the air as someone had set fire to the building nearby. 

Things were spiraling out of control. 

Kanan looked back up at Kallus, who nodded to the troopers beside him. A few put away their standard blasters and pulled out a larger gun. They began loading it with large canisters. Kanan recognized it immediately. 

“Tear gas,” he whispered, his voice drowned out by the chanting crowd. It was time to go. “Ezra!” he shouted, hoping that somehow his padawan had heard him. “Ezra!”

A shot fired into the crowd, the gas leaving a trail from the stairs. The mob’s chants shifted into screams as a second canister was fired. 

Troopers jumped into the crowd, their guns raised. People sprinted away, realizing the danger they were now in. The Troopers began beating whoever they could reach, and Kanan had no doubt that they were grinning underneath their helmets. 

What turned out to be a protest had quickly turned into a riot. 

And Ezra was lost in the terror.


	2. Sleeve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you like this chapter!

A roaring vehicle snapped Kanan out of his thoughts. He raced back through the alleyway they had come through, and peered around the corner.

There, he saw his padawan.

Ezra was lazily thrown into a slot on the outside of a prisoner transport vehicle. If not for the orange jumpsuit, Kanan may not have recognized him. His face was matted in blood, making his own heart ache. The troopers shoved him into the slot and locked it, his head sagging down and his hair covering his bloodied face.

Kanan frantically created a plan. There were three prisoner transport ships in all, each filled, and Ezra was on the last one. The trooper who had placed him in there knocked on the metal ship, and it began to move. They jumped on at the last second, and it followed the others.

Kanan watched as it drove past him, making sure to stay out of view of the troopers. Once the coast was clear, and with some help from the force, he shot up onto the roof of the building. He followed the ships, leaping from building to building, never letting his padawan out of sight.

That is, until, the ships made an unexpected turn to the right.

Kanan cursed, needed to come up with a new plan of attack. Luckily, making up plans on the fly was what he was best at. He closed his eyes, letting the force flow through him. Taking in a deep breath, he was able to see the path of the prisoner vehicles. He released the breath, and opened his eyes.

He took a running leap to the next building, trusting in the force. Yet his trust did not cease his worry for his student. It seeped in through the back, the thoughts tugging his mind. If he did not get there in time, Ezra would be taken to a prison camp where he would surely be recognized. He would be tortured for information that he did not have, just like he had.

His heart beat faster at the mere thought of it. Despite all of his physical scars that had mended, his mental ones would never heal. The integration had been ruthless, and if Ezra had to endure what he did, Kanan would not be able to live with himself.

Even though Ezra did not have any parents anymore, it occurred to Kanan that he had stepped in and taken that role when he had joined.

And Ezra needed someone to look after him, though he would never admit it. With Kanan's pounding heartbeat and his burning lungs, he reached the top of the building he had seen in his vision. Taking another deep breath, Kanan realized that there was nothing left to do but wait.

The first thing Ezra felt was the cold shackles that bounded his wrists together. Next, he felt the wind whipping at his hair to the left. Squinting his eyes, and adjusting to the natural light and high wind speed, and realized that he was moving. As his mind awoke, his memories came flooding in. He had been with Kanan, and then a protest, and the gas. Everything snapped back into place and Ezra jolted awake.

He was on a prisoner transport vehicle, his rectangular cell being in the middle. Looking to his right, a green Rodian was locked up, looking down. To his left, a human female was in the same position. Ezra struggled, trying to loosen the cuffs.

"Give it up, kid. There's no escape from the Empire." Ezra looked over to the human, who was staring at him in defeat. "We're all going to die." A whimper came from the Rodian, letting Ezra know that he had the same feelings.

"There's always a way out," Ezra said, smiling. There was always a way out, especially when you had the force.

Focusing on the control panel to his right, Kanan's lessons ran through his mind. Ezra, regretting that he had not paid closer attention, struggled to release the lock. After a moment, the struggling had passed, replaced with the sound of the button beeping and the opening of their cells.

The Rodian, immediately seizing his chance, jumped out of the transport. The human, however, was more hesitant, choosing to stare at Ezra in curiosity.

"What are you waiting for?" he asked.

"Aren't you going to jump as well?" she asked, choosing to ignore the fact that Ezra had done the impossible.

"Not yet. There are still other people to save." Ezra gave a mock solute, and the woman responded with a nod before throwing herself off. Carefully, Ezra pulled himself up to the roof of the vehicle. He knew that he had only seconds before the Empire would realize that their cells were open.

He hustled over to the other side, where the people were surprised to see him. The button released, and no one questioned the free pass out of the Empire's clutches from a small boy.

"Freeze!" Ezra stood up and whipped around. Two Stormtroopers had risen onto the top, and a third was climbing up. Ezra reached for his lightsaber, but his hand only grasped the thin air. His eyes shot down to where it should be, only to realize that the Empire had stripped him of all his weapons when they arrested him.

Looking back up, the Troopers realized that he was weaponless.

And there was no escape.

However, growing up on the streets had granted Ezra lightning quick reflexes, which were enhanced further by the force. The troopers fired and the red shots whizzed by Ezra, who had dodged out of the way. He was safe for the moment, but as the troopers continued to fire, he knew he would not last forever.

Pain shot through Ezra's arm. He grimaced and wrapped his left hand over the blaster shot. It was only a graze, but it still sent pain cursing through his veins.

In that brief second of weakness, the troopers had advanced. They grabbed Ezra by the wrists, and he struggled against their grip. As the two soldiers held him against his will, the third one slapped him across the face. Ezra's head whipped to the side as the taste of blood filled his mouth.

His attempt to escape had failed.

Kanan could feel the pain before he saw it.

His head started pounding, and Kanan knew that it was not a migraine and his cheek tingled with pain. Opening his eyes, he looked out onto Lothal's streets. There, driving on the street below the place where Kanan sat was the first transport vehicle. It drove by, along with the second. The third one, however, had Kanan stunned. Ezra was on top of the vehicle, being held by his wrists by two Stormtroopers and being hit by another. The other prisoners were nowhere to be found. If it were not for his worry, Kanan would have smiled at his padawan. He had helped the others escape.

But his worry had taken over. Kanan had to act fast. Using the force to guide him, he focused, and jumped.

Kanan landed with a thud. He looked up, meeting the gaze of his student. Ezra looked startled, but most of all tired. He was hunching over in the troopers grasp, and his head hung low.

Kanan drew his lightsaber, reflecting the shots back at their sources. One by one, the troopers were blasted off the roof. With only one left, he still hung on to Ezra. Kanan reflected the blast, and the man fell – but his grasp on Ezra remained. Ezra stumbled as the trooper's momentum dragged him towards the edge of the fast moving vehicle. Too tired to fight back, he slipped off the side.

"Ezra!" Kanan shouted, rushing to the edge. He peered over, and was relieved to see Ezra still hanging on; but so was the trooper. Kanan reached out his hand.

"Hold on, kid!" he shouted. The roaring engine and whipping wind made it harder to be heard. Ezra grimaced. His hand was holding on to a small crevice that was used for style, not for hanging on. Kanan knew that he could not hold on for long, especially with the added weight of the trooper, who held on to Ezra by his wrist. Ezra looked down at him and twitched his already injured hand.

"Get… Off!" he shouted, but Ezra could not make the trooper budge.

Kanan glanced to the front of the car. Warning bells were blaring through his mind, and now he saw why.

The two prisoner transport vehicles were no longer in front of them. In the commotion, they had turned and taken another path. Kanan, with the whipping wind roaring as the vehicle shot down the streets, realized that they were going too fast. The divers had escaped, leaving the shuttle to continue forward with no restraints.

But it could not continue forever, it had to stop somewhere. And that somewhere was a wall, no more than half a parsec ahead. At the speed they were going, they would reach it within seconds; the collision would kill them instantly.

Kanan looked back down at Ezra, whose grip was slipping. He now only held on by his fingertips.

"Ezra, grab on!"

"Kanan!" Ezra shouted, pleading with his eyes. He tried to shake the trooper, but the more he did, the angrier the trooper got. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw movement.

Then, everything happened at once.

"Kid, look out!" The trooper had pulled a small blaster out his tool belt, and pointed it straight at Ezra. Gasping in surprise, Ezra released his grip from the vehicle.

The blaster shot echoed over the roaring wind.

Kanan reached out and griped him by the sleeve, but the momentum was unyielding.

Before he knew it, Kanan was falling from the transport as his padawan slipped out of his grasp.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> R & R  
>  ~ Kavella ~


	3. Bullet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you like this chapter!

Ezra felt Kanan grab onto him, but it only lasted a second before it was gone.

Ezra hit the ground, his body helplessly flung around as his limbs were going in all different directions. He could no longer tell right from left, nor up from down.

He struggled and stumbled for what felt like light-years before he came sliding to a stop.

His eyes were still closed, but he assessed his injuries. His wrist and hands were on fire, along with his back and shoulders. He ached all over, but as far as he could tell, there were no broken bones. Ezra opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was the transport vehicle slamming into the wall of a building. He closed his eyes as the explosion echoed through the empty streets. He could feel the heat of the fire and the smell of the smoke. After a few moments, he opened his eyes again.

He was lying on his side, his eyesight parallel to the Lothal road where the, which was completely bare, minus the burning vehicle. He moaned as he rolled onto his back, and using his elbows, propped himself up.

And he was face to face with the barrel of a blaster. Ezra looked up and saw that the trooper had recovered quicker than he had. He had to be the most persistent and determined trooper in the galaxy; it was insane on how much motivation he had.

Ezra gulped, but the trooper did not fire. Instead, with his free hand, he removed his helmet. Kallus's smirk store right down at Ezra.

That made a lot more sense.

"Foolish child. Did you think I didn't recognize you?"

"Yeah, sort of. You're kind of stupid." Kallus's smirk turned into an aggravated frown. Ezra knew he was risking it, but he knew Kanan was around somewhere. He just needed to stall. As if hearing his thoughts, Kallus spoke up, his grin returning.

"I hope you know that you're friend is not going anywhere, boy." He looked over to the side, and Ezra followed his gaze. Kanan lied on the ground, unmoving. There was a small pool of blood forming underneath him.

"Kanan!" Ezra shouted. He tried to stand, ignoring the pain. He had to get over to him; he had to see if he was alright. But Kallus's gun pressed against his neck, the cold metal sending a chill through his body.

"You're not going anywhere," Kallus threatened, and Ezra sat back on the ground, the cold spot from the gun still stinging. Kallus grinned, and Ezra tried to remain neutral faced. Inside, he was freaking out. Kallus had the upper hand, and there was no way for him to get out. Kanan could be hurt, or worse, and Ezra had no idea of knowing.

Kallus was about to speak before Ezra's com crackled to life.

" _Spector 6, come in._ " Ezra looked up at Kallus, hoping he had not heard it, even though it was blatantly obvious. Ezra had to turn it up when he was on the Ghost; he could never hear it over Zeb's snoring.

"Hand it over," Kallus said, and Ezra obliged. The barrel of his gun was still pointed at his forehead.

"I regret to inform you rebel scum that the boy will not be able to join you again. He is now property of the Empire." Kallus evilly grinned, glancing at Ezra.

" _Is that so?_ " Ezra was taken back by Hera's voice, and her sass. Somehow, Hera must have known that he was in trouble. But Ezra could not figure out how. He looked back up at Kallus, who was also thrown off by Hera's reply.

"Yes, that  _is_  so. He will be taken into custody and tortured until he breaks. It's such an awful process to see."

" _Then it's a good thing you won't have to see it._ " Kallus, again, was appalled by these statements. His weapon lowered. Normally, Kallus's threats would have sent everyone running away, full of worry. But this was Hera, and Ezra knew that she had to have a plan.

Kallus looked up from the com, his eyes widening. He quickly turned around to face Ezra, his weapon raised, and loaded. Ezra winced, closing his eyes.

But he did not feel anything.

Daring to sneak a peek, Kallus was no longer standing in front of him.

Kanan was.

"Kanan!" Ezra shouted, standing up and rushing to his mentor.

"Hey, kid." Ezra's eyes darted to Kanan's shoulder, which he concluded was the source of the blood.

"What happened?" he asked, looking back at Kanan.

"What, this?" he said, gesturing to his wound. "Nothing much. Just took a bullet for you." Ezra went pale as his thoughts swept him up. Kanan had taken a bullet for him. No one had ever done anything like that for him, and it felt strange. He was worried that Kanan would be angry, or upset. Yet he was making a joke about it?

"Ezra, it wasn't your fault." Ezra shook his thoughts away, looking at Kanan. "Nothing Hera can't patch up."

"Speaking of Hera, how did she know?" Ezra picked up his com, from where Kallus had dropped it. He was still lying on the other side of the street after Kanan's force push.

"While Kallus was chatting, I called Hera and hatched a plan." The sound of the Ghost filled the street. Ezra and Kanan looked up at the ship that hovered before them. The ramp descended, and master and apprentice jumped on board.

* * *

Kanan walked into the med bay. It was kept colder than the rest of the ship for some medical reason that he did not grasp, and he shivered slightly as he walked in. Ezra was sitting on the counter, his legs hanging off the side and not yet touching the ground. His head was wrapped from the blows to his head, as was his wrist. Thankfully it was not broken.

"Hey," Kanan said, taking the chair closest to him.

"Hey," Ezra said, looking down at the floor. Kanan sighed.

"I'm sorry." Ezra looked up at him in confusion.

"What?"

"I said I'm sorry. I should have never dragged you into this."

"You think  _you_  dragged me into this?" Ezra asked. Kanan saw the teen's eye roll. "As if. I've been in this long before I met you guys."

"Yeah, but back then you were just a kid. The Empire knew nothing about you," Kanan argued.

"And neither did I!" Ezra shouted, shocking Kanan. Ezra's shoulders slumped. He looked down at the ground, avoiding Kanan's gaze. "Look, I didn't know  _anything_  back then. Being on this team means…well…a lot. And I don't regret joining, even if I get a few more cuts; so neither should you."

Kanan nodded, and when his padawan looked up, he smiled at him.

"I know, but you're still a kid. And I worry sometimes."

"I'm practically an adult," Ezra said.

"You're fifteen."

"My point stands."

"You're not old enough yet, kid." Ezra jumped off from the counter, and Kanan stood. He followed his padawan out of the med bay.

"Am I old enough to drive the ship?" Ezra asked. Kanan smiled.

"Not in my lifetime."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> R & R  
>  ~ Kavella ~

**Author's Note:**

> R & R  
> ~ Kavella ~


End file.
